honoring

VADM Walter “Ted” Carter Jr., USN (Ret.)

November 6, 2025

VADM Walter “Ted” Carter Jr., USN (Ret.), retired from active duty with 38 years of service and logged more than 6,300 flying hours. Carter flew 125 combat missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Bosnia, and Kosovo. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross with combat distinction for valor and is a recipient of the Bronze Star. He holds the national record for carrier-arrested landings, with over 2,000 mishap-free landings. Admiral Carter led the U.S. Naval Academy as its longest continuously serving superintendent since the Civil War. During his tenure, the Naval Academy achieved multiple top national rankings while setting institutional records for student success.

VADM Carter also previously served as the 54th president of the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, RI, leading 1,600 in-resident and 100,000 distance education students pursuing graduate-level education. During his time on Naval Station Newport, he led the charge to establish the Advanced Studies in Naval Strategy Program and founded the Naval Leadership and Ethics Center on base.

In 2022, VADM Carter received the U.S. Naval Academy Distinguished Graduate Award, the highest honor bestowed upon academy graduates. Recognizing exceptional leadership and service, the award has been given to just 110 individuals, including former President Jimmy Carter and former Senator John McCain. He currently serves on the board of the American Council on Education and is a member of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities’ Council of Presidents, the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors, and the U.S. Council on Competitiveness. At the request of the Secretary of the Navy, he served in 2023 on the Naval Education Task Force, charged with delivering a strategic vision for the future of higher education in the naval service — including advancing the country’s leadership in cybersecurity.

VADM Carter currently serves as the 17th president of The Ohio State University. He began on January 1, 2024. As president, VADM Carter leads the state’s flagship public research university, with six campuses across Ohio and a student body of nearly 67,000. Ohio State’s largest campus is in Columbus, the state capital and one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. Additionally, the university has campuses in Lima, Mansfield, Marion, Newark, and Wooster, as well as the nationally recognized Wexner Medical Center, a global research enterprise, and a leading athletics program.

Formerly, VADM Carter served as president of the University of Nebraska System, where he focused on increasing access and opportunity for the state’s students and families. He launched the Nebraska Promise, a financial aid program guaranteeing full tuition coverage for low- and middle-income students, and implemented a budget plan that included a two-year tuition freeze. Under his leadership, Nebraska saw system-wide growth in enrollment, including record-setting gains among underrepresented students. Also during his tenure, Nebraska was ranked among the world’s top 100 institutions for earning research patents and launched plans for a major expansion of programs at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, along with a significant enhancement of the medical center’s presence across the state.

VADM Carter earned a bachelor’s degree in physics and oceanography from the U.S. Naval Academy, where he played ice hockey for four years and served as team captain.

The son of an English teacher in rural Rhode Island, he met his wife, Lynda, at a hockey game while she was a student at the University of Maryland. The couple has been married for 42 years and has two adult children, Brittany and Christopher, and one grandchild.